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Vespus
Vespus is a miniature campaign developed in conjunction with the final release of WCRPGl, planned for some time in May of 2013. The full print version of the campaign is planned to contain a stand-alone, "light" version of the WCRPG rules, though this may change at a later point. This page presents the "back half" of the game's guidebook, the part that specifically contains the campaign data. Campaign Preparation The following section contains the materials necessary to conduct the Vespus campaign. Unless you are the GM, you should stop reading through this guidebook at this point; reading further will only spoil it for you and may force the GM to do something sneaky like switch up the order or strength of the individual encounters or to completely re-write the individual missions. The GM will need a copy of the game's Rules (which, unless something odd happens, shouldn’t be a problem) and take the time to review them thoroughly. Plain text acts as a guide for the GM, so that they may know what is intended to happen with each of the various encounters and missions. Text that appears in italics is player information, which the GM can read aloud or paraphrase to players when appropriate (or have players read themselves if appropriate, for example if the text is something a character is saying, doing or thinking). Underlined text contains information for the GM. The GM should thoroughly familiarize themselves with the statistics of the various craft in preparation for the campaign (particularly given that several non-canonical craft are included in the Vespus campaign). The main difference between the craft stats used in Vespus and the default ones are fighter complements on the main carrier craft. Specifically, the following things are different: *''TCS Bhopal, the player's carrier, carries 8 A-18 Crossbow Medium Bombers and 8 F-71 Stiletto Light Fighters in addition to her normal compliment; players may fly these craft on their missions. She is also carrying a single SAR-13 Phoenix Shuttle, which is a non-player craft is featured in Mission 4B. Bhopal will also acquire ten additional F-42 Hellcat-V Space Superiority Interceptors during the course of the campaign from her escorts Coimbra and Brak provided they survive Mission 1.'' *''The main target is a Kilrathi Dubav-class escort carrier. In addition to her normal fighter complement, she will be carrying a Zartoth Heavy EW Fighter (which will be featured in Mission 2) and 24 extra Strakha Medium Stealth Fighters, Uprated that have been transferred over from a Bhantkara-class carrier just prior to the start of Mission 1.'' Prior to the start of the campaign, the GM will need to sit down with each player and have them either select one of the campaign pilots to play or have them create their own character. If one of the players decides to take on the role of Lieutenant Colonel Risko (the ship's wing commander), the players will need to decide what fighters they would like to fly prior to each mission: ''Arrows, Hellcats, Thunderbolts, Crossbows or Stilettos. If no one chooses to play LCOL Risko, the GM may make a selection of their own or simply have the group fly the specific fighter indicated for the mission (as indicated with brackets in each briefing text). Also, each mission briefing is given by Lt. Colonel Risko; if one of the players has taken on that role, the GM should have them read the briefing text out loud to the rest of the player group. Otherwise, the GM will assume the role themselves.'' One of the key elements of this campaign is that both the Confederation and Kilrathi groups are playing with a very limited set of resources in terms of materiel. If a fighter is destroyed, there will be no replacement; if a fighter's use is indicated but the corresponding force doesn't have enough of that fighter available, the GM '''must' ignore that instance. This may mean that the balance of encounters may be greatly different than what's indicated. The GM will need to keep careful track of how many fighters both carriers have left. Bhopal is also flying with a limited amount of ordnance for her fighters and bombers; the GM will also have to keep track of this information as well. Specifically, she is carrying fifty pieces of standard light ordnance in each category (DF, HS, IFF and ImRec) and fifty torpedoes for aviation use at the start of the campaign. Players will have to be careful about how and when they use ordnance throughout the campaign.'' Finally, aside from specific events, the progress of the player group will depend on the accumulation of '''mission points', which they can accumulate by destroying Kilrathi craft and keeping Confederation craft alive. The potential number of points for a given mission participant will be listed in the "Mission End" section of each given mission along with the success conditions and instructions for where to go next. The GM will have to keep track of the collective score of the group as the campaign progresses; it will be the group's score after Mission 4A/4B that determines if they'll play Mission 5A (winning the campaign) or Mission 5B (not winning). In all missions, Bhopal is a mission-critical craft; its loss signals the immediate end of the campaign.'' Campaign Background This is Colonel Christopher Blair. Report to Admiral Tolwyn. The wreckage of the ''Concordia has been located on Vespus off the Mistral Coast. Evaluation...Total loss.'' Vespus is a "might've been"-style campaign from the Wing Commander Universe that attempts to chronicle the events surrounding the loss of TCS Concordia in the Vespus system in mid-2669, an event that occurs sometime after the novel Fleet Action and prior to the beginning of Wing Commander 3: The Heart of the Tiger. Almost nothing is known about how Concordia was lost over Vespus nor how she wound up half-submerged on a planet's surface, save that it was during a rearguard action. The player's ship in Wing Commander II and seen in the Baen novels End Run and Fleet Action, Concordia's final resting place is only explained through a short paragraph in the Baen novel Heart of the Tiger. This campaign attempts to fill in some of the details of this event. Given the lack of data, however, it should be considered conjectural; player groups are welcome to put their own spin on things if they so choose. The dateline is 2669.187, roughly two weeks before the start of Wing Commander III. The players are part of VF-119, Fireball Squadron, the main group of pilots assigned to the Tallahassee-class cruiser TCS Bhopal, which is part of Task Group 68.18. The campaign begins in the Cardell system, (Grills Quadrant, Enigma Sector) with TG 68.18 assigned to the mainguard, fighting the Kilrathi for control over the system. During the fighting, the main Kilrathi task group attempts to slip past the Confederation defenders, which is where the action begins. Bhopal's seen heavy fighting already; things are about to get a little more desperate - it'll ultimately be the job of the players to make sure the civilian population of the planet Vespus survives. Whether or not history is changed and Concordia doesn't wind up as an artificial reef will be up to them... Vespus System Vespus is a star system located along the central coreward edge of the Grills Quadrant of the Enigma Sector. It's Confederation territory and home to one major port of call: Vespus, a pleasure world (also known as Vespus Prime or Vespus II). Vespus Prime is a larger Confederation colony; it is home to approximately five million Confederation citizens and is renowned as one of the Confederation's major resort worlds, much like Xanadu in Vega Sector and Jolson in Gemini. One of the more well known areas of the planet is the Mistral Coast, located just within the bounds of the planetary tropical zone; its sandy beaches and pristine shoreline draw in close to a ten million tourists every year, and its shear length ensures a relative degree of privacy to those who seek it. The planet's primary exports are, like most Pleasure Worlds throughout the Confederation, games, movies and pornchips (in particular it is well known as home of the famous "Things Gone Wild"™ series). The system is a major Confederation crossroads three jumps from Sol, with direct links to such strategic systems as Cardell, Speradon, Heaven's Gate and Ella, the last of which is (of course) home to Ella Superbase. The system's configuration is fairly unremarkable. It contains a single asteroid belt located 0.092 AU from the primary; this corresponds to the star's Roche Limit and was probably formed by the disintegration of a small carbonaceous planetoid. There are five planets in the system and one dwarf planet. Of the planets, two of them are gas giants in the system's outer reaches; these worlds are the only planets in the system to have any significant moons. The system contains seven jump points in total, connecting to the Hillerman, Heaven's Gate, Speradon, Pembroke, Cardell, Canarus and Ella systems. For purposes of the campaign as written, there are two critical distances the GM must be concerned about: the distance from the Cardell Jump Point to Vespus Prime, and the distance from Vespus Prime to the Ella Jump Point. At the time of the campaign, the Cardell Jump Point will be located 121,650,000 kilometers from Vespus Prime. The Ella Jump Point, which is located at Vespus's Prime L2 point, is a mere 1,500,000 kilometers away; Vespus Prime will be blocking the direct path between the two jump points. The remaining information on the system provided below is for flavor purposes. GMs may share this information with the players if they so choose. The data may also be used in the event that a GM wishes to mix things up a little bit. Most pieces of specific planetary data have not been provided due to the nature of the campaignas written; GMs are welcome to "fill in the gaps" on their own if such data becomes relevant. Jump Point Reference on 2669.187 *'Hillerman': L3, Daedalion (Third Quadrant, ~8.667 AU†) *'Heaven's Gate': L5, Lucifer (First Quadrant, 0.147 AU) *'Speradon': L4, Ceyx (Third Quadrant, 4.333 AU) *'Pembroke': L3, Ceyx (Fourth Quadrant, ~4.333 AU†) *'Cardell': L4, Lucifer (Third Quadrant, 0.147 AU) *'Canarus': L4, Astraeus (Second Quadrant, 1.629 AU) *'Ella': L2, Vespus Prime (Third Quadrant, 0.968 AU) †''Jump Points located at planetary L2/L3 of Daedalion and Ceyx are listed as approximations due to lack of planetary radii data.'' System Profile on 2669.187 *System Primary **G6V, Mass 0.98 solar (), Luminosity 0.84 solar (), Temperature 0.91 solar, Roche Limit 0.092 AU, Tidal Lock Radius 0.596 AU, Inner Ecosphere Radius 0.752 AU, Outer Ecosphere Radius 1.100 AU, Frost Line Radius 1.558 AU, Outer Planetary Limit 39.200 AU, Surface Gravity 27.07 G, Surface Temperature 5257.98 K, Absolute Luminosity 3.309*1026 W, Absolute Mass 1.949*1030 kg. *Planetary Configuration **Asteroid Belt, Inner Edge 0.092 AU, Outer Edge 0.094 AU. **Lucifer (Vespus 1), Molten Planet, 0.147 AU Distant / Second Quadrant, Tidally Locked, Retrograde Rotation. ***Jump point at L4 - Cardell, Grills Quadrant, Enigma Sector. ***Jump point at L5 - Heaven's Gate, Grills Quadrant, Enigma Sector. **Vespus Prime (Vespus 2), PSC 19 Liquid Planet, 0.958 AU Distant / Third Quadrant, Density 0.8 Earth, Volume 1.49*1021 m3, Radius 7,085.42 km, Mass 6.57*1024 kg (1.10 Earths), Surface Gravity 0.89 G, Orbital Period 0.947 Earth years, Sidereal Rotation Period 26 hr / Standard Rotation, Axial Tilt 16°, Atmosphere (Moderate): Nitrogen/Oxygen, Hydrosphere (71%): Water, Lithosphere (1%): Borax/Zinc/Silver, Biodensity 100%, Categorical Temperature: Arctic to Searing, Light Vulcanism/No Seismicity/Moderate Global Weather, Value ¤-5,000. ***Surface Communities: 1 Metropolis, 2 Large Cities + smaller communities (Average Planetary Population 4,987,635 Terrans). ***Jump point at L2 - Ella, Vearrier Quadrant, Enigma Sector. **Astraeus (Vespus 3): Frozen Planet, 1.629 AU / First Quadrant. ***Jump point at L4 - Canarus, Vearrier Quadrant, Sol Sector. **Ceyx (Vespus 4): Frozen Dwarf Planet, 4.333AU /Second Quadrant. ***Jump point at L3 - Pembroke, Grills Quadrant, Enigma Sector. ***Jump point at L4 - Speradon, Grills Quadrant, Enigma Sector. **Daedalion (Vespus 5), Gas Giant, 8.667 AU / First Quadrant. ***Jump point at L3 - Hillerman, Grills Quadrant, Enigma Sector. *** +2 less significant moonlets. **Chione (Vespus 5.1), Rock Moon, Tidally Locked. **Erytheia (Vespus 6), Gas Giant, 14.733 AU / Second Quadrant. *** +22 less significant moonlets. **Aegle (Vespus 6.1), Frozen Moon, Tidally Locked. **Arethusa (Vespus 6.2), Rock Moon, Tidally Locked. **Erytheis (Vespus 6.3), Rock Moon, Tidally Locked. **Hesperia (Vespus 6.4), Frozen Moon, Retrograde Rotation. Mission 1: The Great Cordel Turkey Shoot * Strike mission with CSMs, take out as many bad guys as possible. ** Dubav + 2 Ralaxaths already through the point (assures second, third missions). ** Next ships to jump through will be remainder of raider group (mission critical craft). They'll have the highest number of mission points in this case. *TG 68.18 **TU 68.18.1 - CDOR Gillbard ***CV Oriskany ***CL Ashgabat ***DD Isparta ***DD Hsinchu ***FF Anheuser ***FF Camo **TU 68.18.2 ***CVE Okinawa ***CA Funafuti ***DD Alofie ***DD Karlstadt ***FF Sin City ***FF Iron Hill **TU 68.18.3 (The Player's Group) ***CA Bhopal -- ALSO CARRYING 8 CROSSBOWS AND 8 STILETTOS ***CL Zwedru ***DD Coimbra ***DD Brak ***FF Elysia ***FF Highland **TU 68.18.4 ***DD Baqubah ***DD Taxco ***AO Lennon ***AO McCartney ***AO Harrison ***AO Starr *Kilrathi Battle Group **1xCVA BHANTKARA (SANS 24 STRAKHAS) **1xCVE DUBAV (PLUS ZARTOTH, PLUS 24 STRAKHAS) -- MISSION CRITICAL CRAFT **2xCA FRALTHI-II **2xCL FRALATH (1 MISSION CRITICAL) **4xDD RALAXATH (2 MISSION CRITICAL) **4xDL RALARRAD (2 MISSION CRITICAL) **6xFS KAMRANI (3 MISSION CRITICAL) **4xAO SHA'KAR *Concordia Unit **CVA Concordia (Confederation-class) **DD Siduri (Gilgamesh-class) **DD Enlil (Gilgamesh-class) **AO Chopin (Clarkson-class) Mission 2: A Dance with the Devil * Zartoth guarded by Strakhas. ** This is a mission where the amount of time spent will determine 3A or 3B. (48 minutes, 16 seconds). Mission 3A: Twisting the Tiger's Tail * Strike group catches up with Cats before they reach firing position. ** Destroy the cats, plain and simple. ** If the Ralaxaths don't get off any Skippers before popping, go straight to 5A. ** If they do get off Skippers, point value determines 4A or 4B. Mission 3B: Game of Shadows * Cats have reached launch position. ** Destroy the cats, plain and simple. ** Point value determines 4A or 4B. Also timing... Mission 4A: Paradox * CSM intercept mission, save Concordia and escorts for brownie points. ** Final overall score determines 5A or 5B. Mission 4B: The Deaths of Kings * CSM intercept mission, Concordia going down, bonus points for picking up Concordia survivors ** Fewer friendlies around, CSMs have Strakha escorts? ** Escort an SAR shuttle? ** Final overall score determines 5A or 5B. Mission 5A: Prelude to Orsini * Drive the cats from Orsini (Victory) Mission 5B: Like Rats from a Sinking Ship * Escort evacuees from Ella Superbase to Talos (Defeat) What's Next Wing Commander III. Duh. Pilots *11 Pilots + Whistler. The flight wing's big enough. Kilrathi Pilots *6 Cat Pilots. Will try not to recycle from Enyo/Prelude but it's getting tough not to so do at this point. Auxiliary Personnel *4 Pilots from Coimbra/Brak. **Idea for some guy w/ callsign "Testes", due to habit of collecting pickled Cat testicles... *Ship's Mechanic - he'll be doing the interludes *Ship's CCO. *I may want to at least have a name for the ship's Captain. I've got one for the task group commander. Proibably should also come up with one for the task group's CAG. Generic Confederation Capship Crew The following set of Disciplines may be used for a generic, 200-point Confederation capital ship crew. *'Command': 105, Inspire: 25, Coordination: 25, Strategy: 20, Security: 15, Guidance: 20. *'Science': 105, Planetology: 25 (Habitable Worlds 10), Technology: 25, Archaeology: 20, Geology: 15, Typhonology: 10. *'Navigation': 105, Starship Piloting: 25 (Destroyers 10), Astrogation: 25, Orientation: 20, Vehicle Piloting: 15, Stealth: 10. *'Tactical': 105, Ballistics: 25 (Torpedoes 10), Marksmanship: 25, Targeting: 20 , Combat Maneuvers: 15, Evasive Maneuvers: 10. *'Engineering': 105, Internal Systems: 20 (Hull 15), Damage Control: 25, Faster-Than-Light Mechanics: 20, Mechanics: 15, Defenses: 10. *'Communications': 105, Translate: 20 (English 15), Rapport: 25, Distress: 20, Intimidate: 15, Negotiate: 10. *'Medicine': 105, Intensive Care: 20 (Slashing Wounds 15), Specialized Medicine: 25, Xenobiology: 20, Treatment: 15, Psychology: 10. Generic Kilrathi Capship Crew The following set of Disciplines may be used for a generic, 200-point Kilrathi capital ship crew. *'Command': 105, Inspire: 25, Coordination: 25, Strategy: 25, Security: 20, Guidance: 10. *'Science': 105, Planetology: 25, Technology: 25 (Alien Craft 10), Archaeology: 20, Geology: 15, Typhonology: 10. *'Navigation': 105, Starship Piloting: 25 (Destroyers 10), Astrogation: 25, Orientation: 20, Vehicle Piloting: 15, Stealth: 10. *'Tactical': 105, Ballistics: 25 (Torpedoes 10), Marksmanship: 25, Targeting: 20, Combat Maneuvers: 15, Evasive Maneuvers: 10. *'Engineering': 105, Internal Systems: 20 (Engines 15), Damage Control: 25, Faster-Than-Light Mechanics: 20, Mechanics: 15, Defenses: 10. *'Communications': 105, Translate: 20 (Kilrathi 15), Rapport: 25, Distress: 20, Intimidate: 15, Negotiate: 10. *'Medicine': 105, Intensive Care: 20 (Laser Wounds 15), Specialized Medicine: 25, Xenobiology: 20, Treatment: 15, Psychology: 10.